The luxury brand
Natalis - Emozioni d'Arte is known for working with rare and top-quality materials. In the past we have already introduced you to gold in our articles, recently you have learned about wood and amber, and today we want to complete the cycle with a look at crystal, which we use as a very suitable complement to our luxury dinnerware and serveware.
Quartz
Crystal
is a transparent and colourless variety of quartz. Quartz (chemically silicon dioxide) is a mineral that makes up about 12% of the earth's crust. It is therefore among the most widespread minerals. Its colour is diverse and many of the varieties of quartz belong to semi-precious stones. The most famous varieties of quartz include crystal, amethyst, agate, onyx and jasper. The crystal is found in many places around the world, with the largest pieces coming from Brazil and Madagascar.
Pure crystal
Known since ancient times
Since the Middle Ages, large quartz crystals have been used to make dishes for monastic treasures and crystal balls. The name crystal comes from the Greek word krystalos (ice) or kryos (cold). In ancient times, people thought that crystal was ice so deeply and firmly frozen that it could never melt. Australian aborigines and also Indians in North America used the crystal as a talisman and for fortune telling.
Glass and crystal: how are they different?
Pure quartz is the basic raw material for glass production. Glass is produced by melting silicon dioxide, the main raw material for its production is silica sand. Do you know the difference between glass and crystal? Glassware with a lead oxide content of at least 10% can be called crystal. The addition of lead softens the glass, it becomes more pliable, and the presence of lead also causes the glass to refract light. But in the USA, for example, 2% lead is enough and it is already qualified as crystal.
Ambrine, Johara and Amestris - luxury pieces from Natalis - Emozioni d'Arte
How a coloured crystal is formed
However, the standard content of lead oxide is from 18% to 35%. It is lead oxide that is behind the unique refraction of light in crystal products. The coloured crystal is created due to admixtures of oxides of various metals. Thanks to them, we can recognize ruby, blue, violet, green or azure or also black crystal. The final cut crystal product is the result of combining a clear crystal with a coloured crystal. This basic form of the product is then given to the grinder for further processing. Grinding coloured crystal is much more difficult than grinding clear crystal. The last stage in the production of crystal products is polishing. Each product is immersed in a polishing bath, thanks to which the natural shine of the crystal is enhanced.
Natalis crystal offer
We cooperate with the best suppliers of cut crystal in Central Europe with a long tradition. You can see for yourself that quality is the most important for us when choosing crystals for luxury pieces from
Natalis - Emozioni d'Arte .
